Post-Soviet security bloc to discuss steps to counter terrorism from Afghanistan - Lavrov

BISHKEK, November 27. /TASS/. Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member-states will consider at a meeting in Bishkek on Thursday steps to enhance security on the borders with Afghanistan from where terrorists can infiltrate Central Asia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an audience of students and lecturers at the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy on Wednesday. "We are interested in that [the situation in Afghanistan] not for some abstract reasons. To begin with, it is a threat, if terrorists are amassed in northern Afghanistan, and there are several thousands of them there. They are not trying to hide that they seek to gain a foothold there to advance further, for expansion to Central Asia. Of course, we want our allies to feel safe and would like Russia itself to feel safe." According to Lavrov, if terrorists infiltrate Central Asia, that will be bad both for the countries of the region and for Russia. "That’s why all our organizations that oversee security issues, first and foremost the CSTO, are so necessary and so important. [The participants in] tomorrow’s meeting will consider, among other issues, further steps to enhance security on our common borders with Afghanistan," he added. Read more